The Outer Planets
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto
The Outer Planets
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The outer planets are the five that are the furthest from the sun.
They have longer orbits than the inner planets.
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are called the Gas Giants.
Jupiter
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Diameter: 142,800 km (88,736 miles)
Mass: 1.90 x 1027 kg
Shape: round, one faint ring (to faint to see many details)
Density: 1.33 gm/cm3
Distance from the Sun: 779 million km (484 million miles)
Moons: Jupiter has more than 50 moons, the most well known are:
 Io: innermost and smallest, most active world in our solar system,
clouds of sulfur, oxygen, and sodium from volcanoes.
 Europa: rocky; heating, cracking, and refreezing surface.
 Ganymede: largest known moon in our solar system; has ice so
frozen that it is hard as steel.
 Callisto: has a rocky core surrounded by frozen water; surface is
so cratered that patches of the ice show.
Jupiter
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Surface: no solid surface
Composition: three distinct regions; metal or rocky core, liquid
metallic hydrogen, then gaseous helium and hydrogen.
Atmosphere: turbulent atmosphere with different colored bands and
storms.
 Hydrogen: 90%
 Helium: 10%
 The Great Red Spot: a giant hurricane-like
storm that is twice the size of Earth.
Visibility: can be seen with the naked eye;
 with a small telescope someone can see the
of the atmosphere.
Jupiter and a Few Moons
Great Red Spot
Saturn
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Diameter: 119,871 km (74,500 miles)
Mass: 5.688 x 1026 kg
Shape: round, known for its many rings
Density: 0.69 gm/cm3
Distance from the Sun: 1.4 Billion km (889 million miles)
Moons: Saturn has many moons. There are five major moons.
 Titan: almost as big as Ganymede; very thick atmosphere of
nitrogen that is four times as dense as Earth’s atmosphere.
 Rhea: icy world of a rocky core and water ice covering, airless world
covered by heavily cratered ice.
 Lapetus: similar to Rhea, but one reddish side and one bright side.
 Dione: densest of Saturn’s moons, tidally locked
 Tethys: mostly water ice.
Saturn
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Surface: no solid surface
Composition: same as Jupiter.
Atmosphere: very similar to
Jupiter, not as vividly colored
 Hydrogen: 97%
 Helium: 2%
Visibility:
 visible with the naked eye
 shows up as a bright yellow
dot
 rings can be seen with a small
telescope
Saturn’s Moon System
Uranus
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Diameter: 51,488 km (32,000
miles)
Mass: 8.69 x 1025kg
Shape: round, vivid rings, ring
arc, about a 90° tilt
Density: 1.29 gm/cm3
Distance from the Sun: 2.9
billion km (1.8 billion miles)
Moons: 27 moons. Here are the
names of a few.
 Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel,
Ophelia, Puck, Titania, and
Oberon.
Uranus
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Surface: no solid surface, 90º tilt
Composition: rocky core, highly compressed water layer, liquid
hydrogen and helium, and gaseous hydrogen.
Atmosphere: greenish because methane absorbs the orange and red
light waves and reflects the blue-green light waves
 Hydrogen: 83%
 Helium: 15%
 Methane: 2%
Visibility:
 a telescope or binoculars are needed
 use a star atlas to help locate it.
Uranus’s Moon System
Uranus’s Rings
Neptune
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Diameter: 49,493 km (30,760 miles)
Mass: 1.02 x 1026 kg
Shape: round; rings are so faint, they can
only be seen through special techniques
Density: 1.64 gm/cm3
Distance from the Sun: 4.5 billion km
(2.8 billion miles)
Moons: Neptune has 13 moons. Only
two are visible from Earth.
 Triton: largest, orbits Neptune in
retrograde motion.
 Nereid: very large and elliptical orbit
Neptune
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Surface: No solid surface.
Composition: similar to Uranus
Atmosphere: contains white, wispy methane clouds; looks blue-green
because like Uranus, methane reflects the blue-green light waves rings
so faint, they can only be seen through special techniques.
 Hydrogen: 83%
 Helium: 15%
 Methane: 2%
 Great Dark Spot: a storm like
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot
Visibility:
 a telescope or binoculars are needed
 use a star atlas to help locate it.
Neptune’s “Triton”
Neptune’s “Great Dark Spot”
Neptune’s Rings
Pluto
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Radius: 1,137 km
Mass: 1.27x1022 kg
Shape: round, no rings, 122° tilt
Density: 2.05 gm/cm3
Distance from the Sun:
5,913,520,000 km
Moons: Pluto has 3 moons. One
of the moons is very big.
 Charon: tidally locked, same
face is seen all the time, some
astronomers call Pluto and
Charon a double planet.
Pluto
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Surface: two different parts; an icy part and a rocky part, the icy part is
nitrogen ice.
Composition: Pluto has a core and two ice mantles.
Atmosphere: Although Pluto does not have the gravity to hold an
atmosphere, it is so cold that it holds a thin one.
 Mostly Nitrogen with a trace of Methane gas.
Visibility: None
Pluto and Charon
Compared to the US
Pluto and Charon
Scaled Drawing of Orbits
Visibility of Planets
Earth Compared to Outer Planets
Earth and Jupiter
Earth and Saturn
Earth and Uranus
Pictures of Planets Compared to Earth
Earth and Neptune
Earth and Pluto
Copyright Information
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All facts were retrieved via Yahoo Search for
Planetary Facts
All pictures were retrieved via Yahoo Search for
pictures
Pictures of Earth with planets retrieved
© Walter Myers from www.arcadiastreet.com